


Poor Boys and Pilgrims

by audiaphilios



Series: From Tumblr With Lo-- [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Family Issues, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 23:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audiaphilios/pseuds/audiaphilios
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe they should have discussed musical taste first? Jack was unprepared for all the Beyoncé, and Bitty certainly didn’t expect to stand outside Graceland with a weeping hunk of wobbly-lipped muscle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poor Boys and Pilgrims

**Author's Note:**

  * For [samwellphotographyclub](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=samwellphotographyclub).



> Inspired by the photo and @samwellphotographyclub's tags on [this post](http://samwellphotographyclub.tumblr.com/post/134112760057).
> 
> Started as a where-is-this-AU question and turned into a fic, so the beginning's been roughly re-worked.
> 
> [Originally posted to tumblr May 22, 2016.](http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/post/144745220350/from-this-post-id-reblogged-it-but-wanted-to)

After his overdose, Jack decides to go to one of the huge hockey schools. He chooses University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is neither Michigan nor Minnesota but still has a top-ten showing at the NCAA Div I playoffs and has the fourth most total championships under its belt. Maybe his choice of school has something to do with Badger Bob, maybe it doesn’t.

Bitty chose UW-Madison partially because he’s silly, and Madison will always be home one way or another. Mostly, though, he picks UWMad because of its politics, and the reputation that Madison has as a progressive city. He could be out in that Madison in a way that wouldn’t be possible in Georgia. Plus, _Mama, I can get a degree in Food Science!_

The merit scholarships didn’t hurt, either, and meant that he had free time to get a job at a local bakery/café. He makes friends quickly, surprised to include a few hockey players who are in his major, such as Justin Oluransi, who gets him interested in the Natural Science track in addition to his Business plans. After all, he was a high-level athlete himself, and understands the diet required–he just never thought to combine that knowledge with his love of baking. (And look, if this later leads to a meal delivery/pro sports nutritionist future that’s a thing that could happen, okay?)

He’s aware of Jack Zimmermann, of course he is, what self-respecting gay boy _doesn’t_ take notice of an ass like that around campus? But there are literally tens of thousands of people on campus– the student population alone is more than ten times the size of his hometown. One truly remarkable ass does not a fixation make.

It’s the UWMad ride board that actually brings them together, though Justin does play a role. See, Bitty’s found a cheap, battered-but-beloved little tow-along camper that he has _plans_ for, even if it’s not in the best condition at the moment, and he can’t move into his new apartment until mid-June. He’s decided to bring it with him down to Madison, see if he can get Coach to help him with it. It’s only a 13-hour drive, he and his Mama made it in one day when he moved up here. But he’d like to take his time and explore a bit, and for that he wants company. There’s a whole lot of country between the two Madisons that Bitty’s never had the chance to see.

Jack’s desperate for anything to do that will get him away from news about the Stanley Cup playoffs and finals for the month between the end of the semester and when his 8-week summer session begins. Justin’s the one who points him to the ride board, because Bitty’s his adopted little bro now and was complaining about the weirdo responses he’d been getting.

The boys get together for coffee a time or two, just to test if they’d be compatible travel buddies. Bitty says ten sentences for each one of Jack’s, and Jack’s technologically incapable but doesn’t seem to mind Bitty’s passion for all things social media, so they agree to give it a go.

Maybe they should have discussed musical taste first? Jack was unprepared for all the Beyoncé, and Bitty certainly didn’t expect to stand outside Graceland with a weeping hunk of wobbly-lipped muscle. They both agreed that what happened at Dollywood would stay at Dollywood (though it later becomes an annual tradition).

Maybe they should have considered just how practical it was for two grown men to sleep in a tiny camper? Bitty’s never shared a bed before, and it turns out he’s a starfish, whereas Jack, despite his size, sleeps curled up as small as he can make himself. Jack never seems bothered when he wakes up with Bitty curled around him, though, and had brushed off his apologies after the first morning. Apparently he has a friend who’s a big cuddler and anti-heteronormative crusader ( _Oh my lord, I cannot picture you being friends with Shitty! We’re on a couple of social committees together!_ ), and Jack seems a bit embarrassed to admit he doesn’t mind. It’s somewhere around the second morning of waking up with him that Bitty starts to question his sanity, to bring such a beautiful, such a straight man on a trip like this.

Maybe they should have actually talked about their sexuality and preferences? A lot of things come out in the dark, confidences whispered over the course of long nights. After days walking around Civil War battlefields where men younger than them lived and died with greater expectations on their shoulders than Jack had to face, and he speaks of how he almost died but lived. Bitty tells of the night spent locked in the utility closet, the deep darkness and the fear that no one would find him. The aftermath where he was expected to play it off as “boys being boys”. He doesn’t share why they did it, or what they said to him as they did it, because some things are still too big and too close. And for all the things Bitty has learned about Jack, lying shirtless and overheated in a too-small space with straight athlete is really not the time or place to talk about being gay. Some fears are rooted too deeply.

Maybe Bitty should have taken that opportunity when he had the luxury of considering “time and place”, before they arrived in Madison and Coach took one look at the size of the sleeping area of the caravan and told Bitty to turn around and head back to his faggot school, because he wouldn’t tolerate that kind of thing in his house, his town, his family. Mama wasn’t even home at the time. Bitty didn’t meet Jack’s eye as he turned around and got into the driver’s seat. Jack himself could only clench his jaw, his fists, and climb back into the truck with Bitty.

It wasn’t okay, and it wouldn’t _be_ okay, and they drive for hours in silence up the east coast. That night in Charlotte, Bitty tries to apologize to Jack and offers to sleep in the truck that night if Jack’s uncomfortable around him. Jack still hasn’t found his words, so instead he just pulls Bitty into his arms and lets the man sob against his chest until they both fall asleep. In the early hours of the morning, Bitty wakes spooned up against Jack again, arm wrapped over his waist and nose at his hairline. He breathes a soft _thank you_ with his lips pressed to Jack’s nape. He’s startled when Jack pulls his arm tighter around him, presses more tightly into Bitty’s chest.

“I want to kiss you,” Jack says, and it’s the first thing he’s said since Georgia. “When it’s a good time. And we’ve both brushed our teeth.”

Bitty huffs a laugh against his skin and tucks himself more firmly into the shape of Jack’s body.

“Okay,” he replies. “Okay.”

They fall back asleep.


End file.
